Lost Girl Season 3 Review “Hail, Hale”

On the penultimate episode of “Lost Girl,” we hit the ground running with “Hail, Hale.” After the whole “Dawning” thing proved somewhat anti-climatic, many wondered where the show was headed for the rest of the season, a matter not helped by a series of stand-alone type episodes over the last few weeks. We needn’t have worried, as the show had plenty of twists up its sleeve, and none too soon.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t know that I saw a lot of this episode’s events coming. Yet, if you look back, the ground for everything was laid perfectly, just as it was before with all of the Kenzi-related stuff earlier this season, which was itself brought into play in this episode. A lot of speculation about where this season was ultimately headed revolved around Bo’s father, who may yet be involved in the action later on, but for now, the big twist was that Bo’s mother was not only back but very much alive.

I distinctly remember having a few conversations with people in which they insisted Aife was dead, but I had always felt that the door had been left open there somewhat. I wasn’t wrong, but it never occurred to me that she had been captured and held captive for who knows how long. That would certainly help explain why she hadn’t been up to her usual tricks for some time. The real question is, to what end?

We discovered that the “serial killer” was in fact, Lauren’s fellow doctor friend, Issac, which I must say, never occurred to me. I mean, I certainly took note of him slinking up to Lauren, but the show played it perfectly in that it made you think it was a romantic interest, as well as a professional one. As it turned out, though, Issac was up to something far more insidious, though he was by no means working alone.

Along with a group of like-minded humans, he’d been kidnapping fae to experiment on them in hopes of turning human into fae and possibly getting rid of their weaknesses in the process. In doing so, however, Issac and his team were indulging in far worse behavior than many of the fae they were capturing, something more akin to the likes of Nazis, in fact, and their experiments on the Jews in concentration camps, with a little Dr. Moreau thrown in for good measure, perhaps.

It was also confirmed by Tamsin that Bo had not, if fact, killed that one night stand from earlier in the season that she’d been accused of murdering. Originally, Dyson thought it might be some sort of organ harvesting operation for sale on the black market, but it was actually worse, as the mass grave they discovered was, in fact, a dumping ground for failed experiments. The actual killer of Bo’s fling was found among the corpses, as alluded to last week, and verified this week.

Bo also discovered that Tamsin had been plotting against her, finding that vial given to her to aid in her capture, which Kenzi was able to verify was to weaken Bo to help make her capture easier, and bottle her succubus powers in the process. Unfortunately, this revelation came at a price, as Kenzi had to trade a kiss to get the information, with that kiss being the final piece of the puzzle needed to complete the ingredients of the vial. It was also alluded to by Massimo that he could somehow make Kenzi fae, which would seem to indicate that he was in cahoots with Issac.

This means that the Morrigan might well be involved with all of that, too, as it was clearly alluded to previously that she had been working with Tamsin, who was originally tasked with securing the needed ingredients from Bo before having a crisis of conscious and vaguely confessing to Bo that she needed to watch her back, and even going so far as to take a bullet on her behalf later on in the show. On the Morrigan’s end, it gave her the leverage she needed to go over Hale’s head and to ban humans who had been claimed by fae, including our beloved Kenzi. She also fingers Lauren for the attack on Jerry on their own turf, even though we know it was actually Issac that framed Lauren.

So, what is the connection between Issac and Morrigan? I suspect she has been helping him to capture fae for his experiments on the sly, in hopes of getting rid of all humans and eventually converting them all to fae- likely dark fae, as that is what she herself is. That part of the plot is still murky, but I think it’s safe to assume that Bo is the big get for both the Morrigan and Issac, as she is not only unaligned, but has just successfully completed the Dawning.

That Issac already has her mother and has been experimenting on her would seem to indicate this is the case. If this is true, then that means it is actually the Morrigan that has betrayed her own people, not the humans, as she has alleged- that was simply a frame job to take the heat off of her involvement, hence Lauren’s name being so obviously present on the vial used to drug and kill Jerry the bartender and to subdue Dyson for his capture. Obviously, it worked, as humans were voted off the island, as it were, and declared terrorists, and enemies of the “one true state,” that is, the fae “state.”

On the plus side, Hale saw the direction things were headed in and was able to slip Kenzi something to aid her right before her capture. He also- finally!- declared that he’d had feelings for her for some time, but wanted to secure the Ash position before he acted on them, explaining why he’s been giving her the cold shoulder for most of the season, after it seemed like they might become an item all last season.

Though he stopped short of saying he loved her, it was clear that he cared deeply for our Kenz, and who could blame him? The nefarious Massimo had one thing right: for a human, Kenzi has gone above and beyond the call of duty to the extent that she is hardly just a defenseless waif or a mere damsel in constant distress.

Beyond that, some fun moments here and there, such as the revelation that Jimmy Hoffa was a “claimed” human and that his disappearance was a result of that. I also liked the Morrigan’s summation of “Steel Magnolias” as the movie about “the hair cut that gives you cancer” and Tamsin’s line: “Well, ain’t that just the sh*t sandwich that eats like a meal?” LOL.

We also got that intriguing story about Gabriel, a serial killer that killed others he deemed too good for this world, who had the ability to transfer his power to others. Might that be Issac? Maybe he’s trying to get those powers back after having given them away and becoming reduced to a mere human ever since. He was using Lauren to that end, and now he has her incarcerated along with Dyson, who he confirmed was one of the strongest fae out there in that cage match; and Aife, Bo’s mother, who we already know is a handful her own self.

As if it all that weren’t bad enough, the humans also captured Trick to boot. I assume he will be hauled into that prison as well, eventually, or they might even have worse plans for him, as he is the Blood King, after all. But do the humans know that, or that he’s Aife’s father, and Bo’s grandfather? They do if they got Aife to confess under duress, which may well be why they grabbed him in the first place. He’s got that mysterious scroll with the dragon-like creature on it, though, so maybe all hope is not lost. Ditto whatever Hale gave to Kenzi before she was apprehended.

So, a whole lot happening this episode, obviously, and a lot to mull over for the two weeks (!) we have to wait until the season finale. (They couldn’t have postponed that “Defiance” premiere until after “Lost Girl” ended? For shame, Syfy.) Much was set into motion, and I already like the developments this week over all that Dawning business. As I hoped, all of that was just set-up for what was really going down behind the scenes. I suspect that Bo’s newfound powers will be what ultimately gets all of her gang out of hot water, with able assists from everyone concerned as usual.

The question is, at what cost? Will using her powers to a heretofore unseen extent move to make Bo evil? She’s managed to control her succubus side till now, but when circumstances force her to use them again, will she be able to pull back as she did when she sucked power from her friends to aid Dyson? I wonder. I mean, is it likely the season will end with Bo going bad? Probably not, but I do suspect that using such powers to their fullest extent comes with a price- after all, Bo’s mother turned bad, right? We shall see.

So, what do you think will happen on the “Lost Girl” finale? Will Issac be defeated, or will he get fae powers and become unstoppable, setting the stage for him to be the big villain next season? Or will Bo go full succubus when she uses her powers to aid her friends? What about her dad, heretofore unseen? Will he make an appearance? Will Aife opt to defect to the good team after her experiences in the prison?

What did Hale give Kenzi? How will it figure into things? (My best guess: it will help her escape incarceration or worse.) What is up with that scroll Trick keeps consulting? Now that the Morrigan’s people have all the necessary ingredients for that vial, will they strip Bo of her powers? So many questions. Let me know what you think and all your crackpot theories below in the comments section!

About The Author

Mark Trammell is the former resident entertainment critic at UAB, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and recently achieved a Master's in Creative Writing. His impossible dream was that "Twin Peaks" will one day be resurrected and pick up where it left off. Little did he know that was actually going to happen. He's now currently waiting to see if pigs will fly as well. Until then, he bides his time writing entertainment reviews and watching entirely too many movies and television shows.

hale gave kenzi what dyson gave him earlier this episode. he told hale it would make it impossible or harder for anyone trying to kill him and it did stop that fly the morrigan tried to use on him. so it will basically protect kenzi from harm. the guy how got the kiss from kenzi was working with tamsin who seemed to know about the place where dyson was brought but doesn’t know the whole plan. so i don’t think he offered kenzi issac’s ‘treatment’. he might just have told her what she wanted to hear to get the kiss. there was no real offer behind that.

i suspected that issac was working with the morrigan as soon as lauren went with him last episode. but i don’t think he is working for her, maybe with her because i doubt that the morrigan just took advantage of the opportunity to ban all humans. it was way too convenient. but i doubt that she would tolerate humans who stole fae powers so i’m not sure what the connection is. and i got a nazi flashback when the morrigan gave her speech about being the superior race. and funny thing, i’m actually reading ‘the island of dr. moreau’ at the moment.

so is tamsin now full on in love with bo? that confused me a little. i enjoyed her speech to bo while they were in the tub, though. i think what she said about bo will become important in the showdown next episode. how she is both good and a succubis and so on. but i think they overplayed her inner struggle a little with the drinking and hiding out at lauren’s. that was maybe a bit too much, unless it was just for show, then it would make a little sense. but i don’t think it was.

and i don’t think trick was taken by issac because i noticed these guys were wearing suits and issac’s people didn’t. and how did the know where he would come out of his secret tunnel? maybe that didn’t mean anything but i thought it might. so i think it could be bo’s father because he has to figure into this somehow. and i think the drawing of the dragon might be him so it makes sense to take trick because he knows more about him than the others do.

i’m a little bothered by how they structured this season. first they make a big deal about the dawning which took up most of the season and then that there might be consequences for bringing dyson back. and then it just seems like the only purpose of the dawning was that it gave bo more control over her powers. maybe it will be more important next episode. i remember trick saying that it was way too early for bo to be going through the dawning. so it might be something her father set in motion for his master plan. i’m not sure what that will be but i’m sure it will have something to do with ruling over all the fae. so while the story up until the dawning was told well, with the kenzi stuff mixed with the dawning, the more stand alone episodes after seemed just to be fillers to postpone the real story coming together. but they put in bits and pieces over the entire season which are coming together nicely in these final two episodes and that is pretty great, i give them that.
and as you said there were plenty of twists in this episode and therefore it had a faster pace and exciting. but i’m always a little sad when a season only gets fast and really exciting for end of the season or before a midseason hiatus. here i think only the two episodes before this one where real filler episodes so it wasn’t so ‘bad’. but if you count in the disappointing dawning it makes this season’s overall story arc a little weak. (well, i was disappointed of last seaon’s showdown, too. that was also very anticlimactic)

but here i am complaining about the season when it isn’t even over yet. so i hope the finale will be extra awsome. it has the potential to do great stuff with all the setting up this episode did.

Mark Trammell

Okay, one at a time, as per usual…
Good catch on the Hale giving the thing to Kenzi that Dyson gave him- I definitely missed that altogether.
You may be right on there being no concrete offer on making Kenzi an actual fae or giving her fae-like powers, but I do think that’s what they’re going for in the lab. Also, it’s not the first time she’s been offered powers, so I do think it’s do-able. If Issac and Co. get wind of the fae that offered Kenzi powers- I beleive it was the Garuda- then that may solve any issues they are having, though her deals are for individuals, not across the board. Still, Issac may just want them for himself anyway, so that may be good enough as far as he’s concerned. I agree that the guy that offered the same to Kenzi was just plying her to get what he wanted though. He’s clearly working for them, so if he actually had that power to do that, then they wouldn’t need the vial for Bo’s powers. But the creature that offered it to Kenzi intitally does, which Trick confirmed at one point.
Agreed that Issac may be working with the Morrigan & not necessarily for her- but we already know that Tamsin is. I agree that she only knows so much about what’s going on, though. I do think she’s in love with Bo, though. She took a bullet for her, after all. But yes, the actress’ acting was a bit overbaked!
Good catch on the Trick thing as well. You might be right about it having something to do with Bo’s father. I didn’t notice that the guys who grabbed him were dressed differently, or at least, didn’t think that they were different from Issac’s guys. It seemed like the same ones at the time, but that’s likely because they had already kidnapped someone earlier in the episode, and I just assumed it was the same people.
Yeah, it is a shame that they waited this long to really kick things into high gear. I actually liked the stand-alone episodes for the most part, but the placement of them was erratic. They should have front-loaded the stand-alones, while sprinkling in the seeds of the Kenzi kidnap storyline and the Dawning thing with Bo along the way, then went straight from that into the final episodes events. By breaking it up, it made the Dawning thing seem even more anti-climatic. But I would have been fine with it, if they had gone straight from it to the stuff this week and into the finale.
It’s kind of crazy, as they did a great job of inserting hints along the way of where it was headed all season, but then they screwed up the forward momentum by wedging in the stand-alones where they did. I like those episodes just fine, as they recall the early days of the show, before it got more ambitious, but they stick out like a sore thumb if you put the rest of the ongoing story arcs mostly on hold to stick them in there randomly. It’s kind of like the show is shooting itself in the foot, even though the basic plotting and planning is realtively solid.
I’m going to hold off making any sweeping statements about the season as a whole until I see how it all pans out, but I’m going to cautiously say that I like this season better than the last overall. It was definitely better planned, and they clearly knew where they were headed with everything, but they made some dopey choices with the decision to shoehorn in the other stuff too late in the game. Still, all things considered, I like where it seems to be headed, and some of it definitely caught me off-guard along the way, more so than what disappointed me.